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07/24/2007 Entry: "Working on the boat"
Having no electronics to fix, we are back to the brightwork that was started last season. Underneath the cracked gvarnish?h lies a beautiful piece of wood. I refer to the teak on the cockpit coaming. We did about a third of it - stripped and 1st coat Cetol Lite on Saturday. It was not quite dry by the time the sun went down and the overnight dew dulled the finish. On Sunday we let it dry until about 1400hrs in the direct sun and applied the second coat. That coat was almost dry by 1700 hrs and looks the best of all the wood on the boat. Nice.
Monday night I removed the shipfs power panel voltmeter that has been non functional. After taking it apart, I discovered that a 13.5K wirewound resistor was open and one end of the coil was not attached to the terminal or the resistor. I emailed a buddy and asked him if he wanted to rewind the coil and fix the instrument but he emailed back and said that he had cataracts and could no longer see the fine wires. Maybe SAM can do the job.
Today I looked up the SO.65 form factor voltmeter and discovered that an outfit in Taiwan makes them and so I emailed for a price and delivery method - hopefully they have Paypal. Ifll tell you when I find out.
In the mean time I will describe the SO.65 form factor. They have a visible panel side diameter of approximately 3.375 (85mm) diameter. The through hole to mount them in the panel is 2.57 (65mm). The mounting is via three holes equally spaced around the 3 diameter point. Any SO.65 form factor instrument should work as it is a more or less standard. I want one that is 0-300 VAC 50/60 Hz.
I intend to install a SPDT switch and this way I can monitor input power from the dock and breaker side power with the one instrument. In series with the switch and the meter I will solder a 1/4 Amp pico fuse in case the meter shorts. I want to be able to see if dock side power is applied and what the voltage is before turning on the Main AC breaker.
I should be finished with improvements in about 10 years or so. How about you?